Ask Lafeber

Budgie and Lovebird interaction

I have a lovebird (Luna) and a budgie (Pinù) in separate cages. Pinù recently lost his bonded mate, with whom he shared the cage for years. The budgies were rescues, and didn’t like being out of their cage, so they rarely went out. But I got Luna when she was young and I regularly let her out to fly around. I know lovebirds should never be housed with budgies, and I always supervised Luna when out of her cage because she liked to visit the budgies and interact with them through the cage. I’ve never seen her be aggressive with them. She seemed to form a particular bond with Pinù (because male?) and he would “kiss” her (i.e. regurgitate to her) through the cage bars. Now that Pinù’s mate is gone, he is more amorous than ever with Luna, and she seems to enjoy the attention. The cage bars are wide enough that their beaks poke through easily. I’ll be careful to always supervise the interaction, but I’m wondering, is this healthy behaviour? Will they form a bond that will always be frustrating because they’re not the same species? Should it be discouraged? If there’s no history of aggression, is that a good sign? If the behaviour should be discouraged, I’m not sure how to stop the interaction because the cages are in an open area and not easily separated. Thanks for your advice!

Hi,

There is always a risk with letting different species interact. You are right that they should not be caged together. While there can be exceptions, things can go badly before you have a chance to react. You will need to use your own judgement on this. Of course if there are any signs of aggression, you need to stop the interactions. It’s hard to say if the bond could become unhealthy. I have known odd couples. But I can’t advise mixing the species. If they seem happy, and you feel safe with them interacting under supervision, then there is no reason to force them apart based on concerns that the bond could be frustrating. Just continue to maintain separate cages.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda